Corydalis 'Canary Feathers'- how has it done for you?

I heard a few customers say it never came back (we're on the cusp of Zones 6-7).

How has it done for you?

I have tried several corydalis with pour success. However note I am a lot further north (5a).
Of the ones I have tried the yellow seems to do the best . They reseed in a good year, I have had yellow for over 5 years . I do not know the exact cultivar because it was begged off another gardener.
The blue panda is beautiful but not hardy here.
Good luck
Let us know how you do with it.

I have tried Corydalis 'Berry Exciting' twice now, last year it fizzled out in the heat of summer with no return this year and this year it looks like it is doing the same thing :-( I'm considered zone 7 and the things I read say it is hardy here in full shade, maybe it will come back next year... I won't hold my breath on this one though.

I'm in 6a. Corydalis lutea grows like weeds in my shady yard. C.ochruleuca does very well (2nd year here), but has not self-seeded to my knowledge. C.elata is in its 3rd year here, I think, and is gorgeous but a slow grower and I believe it's infertile. None of these go dormant in summer, but it seems that a lot of varieties do, and I haven't tried any of those except the C.nobilis which I just bought dormant, because I couldn't resist after seeing a photo of it.

Zone 7 here and I have Corydalis `Beth Evans, which has gone dormant, but did well in the early spring. I'm hoping it'll return next year and get bigger, as it was fairly low growing this spring.

Zone 4 here. Beth Evans is a cultivar of Corydalis solida. This species is supposed to go dormant. I have C. solida from three different sources. They come up very early if the soil is warmed early. On the south side of my house they emerged in mid April, but on the north side mid May. They are gone inside a month. They produce a little round corm that sits dormant until the following year.

Many grow the most common yellow form of Corydalis (C. lutea), but I do not because it reseeds too heavily here. I do grow C. ochroleuca, and wouldn't be without it. It does reseed gently for me. I grew C. cheilanthifolia, very nice, but then it bloomed and did what it is suppose to: produce seed and die. No seedlings returned. I've tried C. stenantha in several different places, and none have been winter hardy.

The purple/blue types are generally less cold hardy. A few people up here can keep them going for a few years, but ultimately not.

Rick

A young Corydalis ochroleuca. Unlike C. solida, the plant will grow much larger, to 1x1ft plus.

Rick: TY for that update on various Corydalis cultivars. I do like the C. ochroleuca. I'l have to try to locate that one, for sure. I guess my `Beth Evans' really must be considered and treated as an ephemeral, almost.

Thanks again for the info.

Angie

Yes, thanks for the info Rick. I love my ochroleuca too, but if you want to talk size, here's where I planted a lutea in a 2 or 3 inch wide space in my front yard. I love that it flowers from early spring through the fall. You can't say that about too many perennials.

Oh, wow, Pereniallyme. That is so striking! Love it.

Angie

Thanks Angie. I really like it too, but It's like a monster growing way out of proportion to my tiny front yard, and onto the sidewalk. I've been considering thinning it out, as it's now covering up some of the hens and chicks I planted in that crevice.
Corydalis seems to love and thrive in tiny spaces. I also have some self-starters growing in cracks where the foundation of my house meets concrete on one side. That I really love. You wouldn't think anything could grow there.

If you do thin it and think it will make the trip in the mail, please send some my way. I'll send you some of my `Beth Evans' if you'd like or whatever else is on my list. My list needs updating, though, because I've lost some plants, some just didn't make sprout this year, and so forth. Or I'll just reimburse you for your postage. Whatever you prefer.

Angie

Angie, are you still going back and forth to Asheville? I haven't made it to see my folks in Pisgah Forest yet, but have to get down there soon. I have plenty of lutea, but it's pretty fragile, though could possibly be shipped potted. I'd love to try your 'Beth Evans" and would still like to trade a few DLs, as we discussed over the winter. (Sorry I didn't get back to you about it, and still sooo embarassed that I mistook a roundup for an Appalachian musical event. Hoped you didn't think me a crazy person!)
I should say, though, that my mother, who gave me my original lutea plant when they lived in NJ, has had no luck with it at all in NC. I have no idea why. Please send me a dmail so we don't co-opt this thread - and in terms of updating your trade list, I did notice all of the many perennials you wintersowed this year and some of your little plant-buying binges!

Sharon

Beth Evans (C. solida) is definitely an ephemeral, but the species is often not a woodland plant in the wild. It is native to northern Europe, but often grows in the shade of scrubby shrubs in the relatively dry central asia.

Our native Minnesota corydalis is an annual and grows in disturbed sandy soils.

I would expect if you were to send a lutea that is more than this season old, it would have a substantial enough root system to survive travel with its top cut completely down (and then would resprout). Pretty hard to send a growing, non-cormous type corydalis through the mail withough severe damage to the foliage.

Beth Evens, however, being cormous, you can just dig the little "bulbs". With C. solida corms, it is difficult to ascertain which end is up. I doubt you would be able to tell where the withered stem was, so just plant on its side.

Thanks for the info, Leftwood. I'm hoping I can meet up with Angie when I go to NC, because even the older luteas don't seem to have a whole lot of root system. I'd describe it as almost like a taproot that usually goes sideways, or at least not down too deep. Lutea might not be properly described as ephemeral, but definitely has a kind of ephemeral quality to the plant. It's definitely not solid! But maybe I'll do an experiment and dig up an older corydalis, pot it and cut the top off and see what happens. Lord knows I have enough of them that one can possibly be sacrificed. It would be nice to know of a good way to ship them.